Liquid cooled housing for rotary piston combustion engine

ABSTRACT

A liquid-cooled housing for a rotary piston combustion engine consists of at least one annular shell and two parallel end pieces. The shell and end pieces contain chambers which are traversed by cooling liquid and are in communication with each other. Ports are sealed by gaskets at the juncture of the shell and end parts. These gaskets are recessed in encircling grooves close to the inner surface of the shell and are more or less parallel thereto near the outer periphery of the shell.

United States Patent [191 Ruf [ LIQUID COOLED HOUSING FOR ROTARY PISTON COMBUSTION ENGINE [75] Inventor: Max Ruf, Obereisesheim, Germany [73] Assignee: Audi NSU Auto Union Aktiengesellschaft, Germany [22] Filed: June 12, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 478,781

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 16, 1973 Germany 7322559 [52] US. Cl 418/83; 418/149 [51] Int. Cl F01c 21/06; FOlc 19/12 [58] Field of Search 418/83, 104, 142, 149;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,547,374 4/1951 Carideo 418/104 X [451 May 27, 1975 2,898,134 8/1959 Moskow 277/58 X 3,820,925 6/1974 Uchiyama 418/142 Primary Examiner-C. J. Husar Assistant ExaminerLeonard Smith Attorney, Agent, or Firml(ane, Dalsimer, Kane, Sullivan and Kurucz [57] ABSTRACT A liquid-cooled housing for a rotary piston combustion engine consists of at least one annular shell and two parallel end pieces. The shell and end pieces contain chambers which are traversed by cooling liquid and are in communication with each other. Ports are sealed by gaskets at the juncture of the shell and end parts. These gaskets are recessed in encircling grooves close to the inner surface of the shell and are more or less parallel thereto near the outer periphery of the shell.

3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures LIQUID COOLED HOUSING FOR ROTARY PISTON COMBUSTION ENGINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Gaskets are ordinarily of elastic material, and are generally intended to supplement the seal due to metallic contact of the housing parts. The gaskets in the contemplated engines prevent passage of cooling liquid from the several ports along the meeting faces of the shell and end pieces, as well as to seal them against the working gases. The gaskets can perform their function only if they are correctly inserted in their accommodating grooves. When the housing is being assembled, loosely inserted gaskets may project from their grooves, or drop out partially or completely. This may have the unfortunate result that the gaskets are pinched and damaged, causing leaks between the shells and end pieces. Furthermore, the loose arrangement of the gaskets in their grooves causes difficulty in assembly because their correct location must be checked continually.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the invention is to form the grooves receiving the gaskets in such a way that the gasket position in the groove cannot change.

This object is accomplished by providing at least one side wall of each groove with a plurality of projections to retain the gasket during assembly. Accordingly, each gasket may be secured in its groove when inserted with the aid of the projections, so that it cannot change position during assembly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DETAILED DESCRIPTION The illustrated liquid-cooled housing of a rotary piston combustion engine, consisting of a shell 1 and end pieces 2. The shell 1 and end pieces 2 contain chambers 3 adapted to be traversed by cooling liquid. The chambers communicating with each other through ports 4 in the meeting faces or juncture of shell 1 and end pieces 2. This location is sealed by gaskets 5 and 6 recessed in encircling grooves 9 and 10 close to the inner surface 7 of the shell and more or less parallel thereto near the outer periphery 8 of the shell 1. The gasket cooperates in supplementing and reinforcing the seal due to metallic contact of the housing parts with each other.

As FIG. 3 shows, radial projections 11 are arranged in the side walls of grooves 9 and 10 in order to keep the inserted gaskets 5 and 6 therein and from being shifted or removed during assembly. The projections 11 may be arranged on either the inner or the outer side walls of grooves 9 and 10, or may be arranged in alternate fashion or both.

If the shell 1 is produced by die-casting, the grooves 9 and 10 together with the projections 11 may be advantageously cast, thus avoiding costly machining.

In an alternate embodiment grooves 9 and 10 may be alternatively arranged or staggered in the faces of the end pieces 2.

Thus the several aforenoted objects and advantages are most effectively attained. Although several somewhat preferred embodiments have been disclosed and described in detail herein, it should be understood that this invention is in no sense limited thereby and its scope is to be determined by that of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A liquid-cooled housing for a rotary piston comhustion engine, comprised of at least one annular shell and two parallel end pieces, the shell and end pieces containing chambers traversed by cooling liquid and communicating with each other, ports in the meeting faces of the shell and end pieces communicating with the chambers, grooves encircling the ports close to the inner surface of the shell and essentially parallel thereto near the outer periphery of the shell, gaskets, the ports being sealed by the gaskets recessed in the encircling grooves, at least one side wall of each groove having a plurality of projections to retain the gasket during assembly.

2. The invention in accordance with claim 1, wherein both sides of said grooves have the projections.

3. The invention in accordance with claim 2, wherein the projections are in alternate staggered relationship. =1= 1: v 

1. A liquid-cooled housing for a rotary piston combustion engine, comprised of at least one annular shell and two parallel end pieces, the shell and end pieces containing chambers traversed by cooling liquid and communicating with each other, ports in the meeting faces of the shell and end pieces communicating with the chambers, grooves encircling the ports close to the inner surface of the shell and essentially parallel thereto near the outer periphery of the shell, gaskets, the ports being sealed by the gaskets recessed in the encircling grooves, at least one side wall of each groove having a plurality of projections to retain the gasket during assembly.
 2. The invention in accordance with claim 1, wherein both sides of said grooves have the projections.
 3. The invention in accordance with claim 2, wherein the projections are in alternate staggered relationship. 